UNI Football Adds More Transfer Talent, Iowa Prep Returns Home
Harrison Bey-Buie is a bruiser of a running back. That's why it's so exciting to see him join an already loaded UNI football roster along with a variety other transfers.
As a senior in 2020, the Bettendorf prep ran for 2,034 yards and 32 touchdowns and earned a spot on first-team All-State while winning District Player of the Year. He was also named the Quad Cities Player of the Year as a junior and senior.
Despite the production and talent Bey-Buie possessed, he ultimately received just one NCAA Division I scholarship offer out of high school. Like most would do, he took the chance given to him and spent his first year and a half of school at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.
In his lone season playing for EIU, Bey-Buie put up solid stats, racking up 479 yards and four touchdowns over 11 games and nine starts. At the end of the season he was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer team.
See some of his highlights here:
Though the Iowa prep didn't receive scholarship offers from other Division I programs, he did have interest from Iowa, Iowa State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Illinois State, and Indiana State, per Rivals.com.
Out of the transfer portal, he received offers from Western Illinois, Lindenwood, Texas A&M Commerce, and Mississippi Valley State University.
This is what Bey-Buie told me was one of the reasons he chose UNI over the other programs:
Seeing how the fans and students love their school,and how the coaching staff cares and interacts with their players I knew it was the place I wanted to be. ... I know that winning is a priority but the relationships that are developed along the way are instrumental to the success of the program.
Though he is listed as a wide receiver on the UNI Athletics site, he told me the plan is to keep him at the running back position.
Bey-Buie will join a backfield that returns two of its three leading rushers from 2021 in Dom Williams and Vance McShane. Williams ran for 723 yards and four touchdowns last season while McShane racked up 331 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Terrance Kamara also returns after a brief showing of his talent last season against Western Illinois when he ran the ball 11 times for 40 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 60 yards.
Amauri Pesek-Hickson from Kansas is another transfer that came in halfway through the year and will join those four in the backfield during the 2022 season. As a freshman for the Jayhawks, he ran the ball 60 times for 218 yards and caught five passes for 34 yards.
Regarding the workouts the team has been through so far this season, Bey-Buie had this to say:
Honestly, I am impressed. Everyone is working really hard and I believe we will have a great season. We are all on the same page that winning is our goal. Through the hard work we are putting in there is no doubt in my mind this season will be amazing.
He added that, for him, he can promise hard work and production to Panther fans:
I’m willing to give and help the program anyway that I can. Winning is important and something that we will do as a team. They can expect me to give 100 percent to my teammates, my coaches, and the fans anytime I step on the football field or in the classroom.